


Ethereal

by Rabu_Me



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Rating will go up, but without talking to dead people, eruri - Freeform, ghost Erwin, in which Levi should probably learn to entertain himself, teenager Levi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-12
Updated: 2014-04-12
Packaged: 2018-01-19 03:50:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1454338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rabu_Me/pseuds/Rabu_Me
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi has just moved from his old town to Sina, which is quite known among the families that can pay for it. Having been adopted by the Ackermans when he was still a kid, he is included in this group of people, but not money, nor anything can manage to make him feel anything close to alive.</p><p>Except for the ouija sessions that allow him to talk to a deceased man who seems to enjoy teasing him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ethereal

**Author's Note:**

> Yes hello there! This was actually a little idea I had a few days ago, but when I posted it on my personal, a lot of people seemed to like it, so I decided to continue with it! Half of this fic is already plotted, so it should be alright! Okay, I hope you enjoy.

It was pretty normal for a big town like Sina to receive newcomers before the term started. The prestigious city had plenty of space for emigrants who desired to live there, and as long as they could pay for it, no other problems appeared. Now, it wasn’t as if it was cheap, by any means; quite the contrary, in fact, but the amount of services available in the city and the average rate of academic success was definitely part of its appeal.

Appealing enough to get families like Levi’s.

The raven, of seventeen years of age, had been adopted when he had been five, and ever since then, the Ackermans had tried to give him nothing but love. However, once he hit puberty, he started to avoid having any kind of contact with them, at least, any unnecessary contact. Levi had never been a fan of socializing, and soon enough he started drifting apart from his family.

The reason behind his adoption had been obvious: after a risky abortion due to the possibility of the pregnancy ending with her life, Mr Ackerman had refused to expose her to the same for a second time, and from that idea, Levi was adopted.

Don’t take him wrong, he had tried.

But even the large amount of money at his disposition did nothing to fill the emptiness he felt every day. He craved action, emotion, and yet, nothing managed to set his eyes alight with excitement or anything further than mild interest.

He had tried everything, from dangerous sports to drugs. In all honesty, he didn’t know whether his parents had noticed the missing amounts of money from the safe embedded on the wall behind the t.v. at the living room or not, and as much as it pained him, he couldn’t even find it in himself to care.

It was a problem, how he no longer cared about anything.

As he grew older, the feeling of impassivity became stronger, and the distance put between himself and the world increased.

Thinking back, Levi thought that it could have been one of the reasons behind their idea to move from their old town to Sina, apart from the ones related to its popularity. But no matter what he thought, he had never been asked for consent about the change of environment, and in a way, the teen almost preferred it. He knew how he was, as well as his own demons; it would have all led to a pointless fight in which his silver tongue could have easily hurt his mother. And, contrary to popular belief, he didn’t want that to happen. Not now, not ever.

Mr and Mrs Ackerman were far from perfect. But they had still gotten him out of the orphanage, and that deserved his gratitude, if not subtle signs of affection. In rare occasions.

They all arrived to Sina a few weeks before Levi’s classes started, barely enough time to unpack everything they had brought with them from their former home. The house was a bit old, if the decoration and the state of the basement were anything to go by. Some things were still there, covered under copious layers of dust that had been gathering throughout the years. A bycicle, an old gramophone that probably didn’t even work, a closet full of clothes eaten away by time… and the list went on, endlessly. Taking care of the things that were disposable or useless was part of his chores, and he came to dread the mess that was waiting for him just from hearing his mother’s description of the basement.

Dirty. Dark. The perfect place for dust and spiders to take over.

He both thanked and blamed his need to have everything impeccable, otherwise, he would have never done any progress down there. As time passed by, the pile of trash that rested against the walls in every possible direction started diminishing considerably, and the trash can outside started to be more and more cramped. But that didn’t really matter; they had been informed that all trash cans were emptied every morning, so even if he managed to fill it to the brim, there would be no grave consequences. He would just have to continue cleaning the next day.

What a _pain_.

Sighing, the teenager brushed the sweat of his forehead with the back of his hand. His body was used to a certain amount of effort employed in working out, his muscles were more than enough proof of that. But he was still human, and carrying heavy objects outside for hours could be truly exhausting for anyone who tried to do the same. Unfortunately, no one was helping him this time.

The Ackermans had gone to meet the neighbors, and knowing them, their outgoing nature would keep them from coming back home for some hours. They had asked Levi to come with them, to socialize, telling him that maybe he would be able to meet some people that were his age, that it would be a good way to get rid of his boredom; but it all fell in deaf ears.

Levi wasn’t interested in socializing.

Where was the emotion in a ‘hello, pleasure to meet you!’? It all sounded fake, forced, and considering how he had acted even upon their arrival here, he wouldn’t be surprised if his neighbors’ children already insulted him behind his back. He was just simply being realistic, and after all, wasn’t lying a bad thing? He didn’t have any reason to return their smiles, or to meet their handshakes with equal force.

Like a portrait, when exposed to the heat, their masks crumbled and melted away. And Levi wasn’t going to lose his time over a lost cause. Being alone didn’t equal to being lonely, he told himself. He was alone. But he didn’t feel the need to have company of any kind.

A snort escaped his lips at the thought as he finished taking care of a whole wall. Only one more to go. If he was lucky, he would be able to be finished before his parents returned, take a shower, and bask in the warm water for a while before dinner. He could allow himself such a treat as a reward for his hard work.

His arms were starting to feel numb under the weight of a huge lamp that rested in his hands. It was doing nothing apart from taking useful space: even though the lack of a light bulb could be solved, the screen had been torn to shreds, and hints of oxide curled around the iron rod. It couldn’t be saved in any way. A shame, he could tell that it had been quite glamorous back in the time where this house belonged to its original owners.

“They were probably pretty fucking rich.”

The Ackermans were too, so it would be quite hypocritical of him to insult them using that argument.

He had found a lot of photographs in black and white of the first family that had lived here, or so he supposed. In all honesty, he couldn’t get rid of them the very moment he saw them. They were a relic, and had somehow managed to preserve themselves in an astonishing condition taking into account how much time they had been in a small box inside the big closet in the basement. So Levi had only put them back where he found them, and left them there.

As quickly as he could, he cleaned the rest of the mess, until the basement looked ready to live in if someone so desired, and once he did that, he felt proud of what he had done. It had been an excruciating process.

Sighing, he returned back upstairs, jumping the steps two at a time.

The house was pretty big, all things considered. It had three floors: the basement, which was obviously in the underground; the first floor, which included the kitchen, the living room and a bathroom, and the second floor, where all the bedrooms and private bathrooms were located. It had been an advantage that he didn’t possess back at his other home, a whole bathroom, all for himself. Levi wouldn’t admit it, but he was quite grateful for that. It had become rather awkward to use his parents’ bathroom at his age, where no privacy was ever guaranteed, and this way he could actually relax and take a bath if he felt like it without having someone banging on his door.

He was finally free from his chores, as he had finished doing every single one. For such a feat, Levi figured he could treat himself to a relaxing bath, as he had planned before.

It didn’t take long for him to enter the warm water, which covered him body almost all the way to his shoulders. The tub was huge, that was true… but Levi’s height also had something to do with this.

As he lied there, eyes closed and arms resting on his lap to avoid getting them exposed to the cold air compared to the liquid around him, the knots in his back seemed to start untangling themselves. The warm water served well its purpose, helping him relax and wash away the sweat that had gathered on his skin due to the hard work he had endured.

“Moving in is a bitch.”

There was no one to listen to his complaints, but he still needed to hear himself saying it. That way, that fact seemed more real. Words seemed to gain a more serious, more believable sense once they were uttered by someone, for some reason Levi didn’t really understand. Speaking them out loud gave them a sense of finality.

His eyes fixated on the light blue tiles in front of him, not paying attention to the intricate designs painted on them. They had been thoroughly cleaned the very moment they stepped into the house. After all, who would ever want to use a bathroom that was still covered in dust and cobwebs? Not Levi, that was for sure. The results had been fairly satisfying, and once tha place was up to his cleanliness standards, he had just started to appreciate the decoration and the pristine porcelain around his frame.

Levi sighed. There was a little spider on the wall.

Scowling, he scooped up some water in his hands and threw it at the nuisance, watching as the arachnid slid to the floor, lying in a small puddle. He would have to clean that after he bathed, but it was alright. The mess he had made was worth it, if anything just to avoid seeing that spider. They made him pretty nervous, and that definition was still far-fetched. It didn’t have anything to do with a phobia, but it was close enough to want to keep those creatures out of his sight if possible.

With the threat now nowhere near his position, Levi considered what he could do for the rest of the evening. It was still early. Maybe he would spend some time on his laptop. His boredom couldn’t help but raise to alarming levels ever since they moved here. At least he had had something relatively close to friends back in his former town. Sure, he wouldn’t trust them too much, not when he knew they still talked about him behind his back.

A friendship was hardly one when you were constantly stabbed in the back.

It didn’t really matter. Levi didn’t consider them precious enough to him to even miss their conversations whenever they felt like pretending. He was the weird kid, the emotionless guy whose eyes couldn’t have been colder.

And that was okay.

Fuck them all.

 With a grimace, he started scrubbing himself until his pale skin turned into a pretty pink from the raw pressure. It hurt slightly, of course. But it was so satisfying, to wash away the sweat, the layers of dead skin and all his worries away, that he couldn’t help but do it every single time he could. A ritual of sorts that Levi performed whenever he needed to relax.

It happened more times than what he would probably ever admit.

It didn’t take long for the water to turn cold, making the hairs at the nape of his neck stand and goosebumps appear on his skin. Only then did he step out of the tub, quickly wrapping a fluffy towel around himself. Ignoring the shiver that ran down his spine he kept drying himself until no drops of water travelled down his frame. He would take care of his hair afterwards. The door led him back to his room, where he turned the lights on before walking in. Approaching the small table by his bed he bent down to open one of the drawers before fishing out some clean underwear.

The back boxers didn’t stay long in his hands, as he put them out quickly enough to avoid catching a cold. Levi scoffed. That was the last thing he needed.

In a matter of seconds, he was wearing clothes once again, with a white t-shirt that hung loosely around his torso and some black shorts. Being comfortable was the top priority for him, even more now that he was enjoying the last days before he had to start going to classes in the local highschool. The mere thought irritated him; he wasn’t looking forward to it at all.

With nothing to do, he put on his headphones and connected them to his laptop, opening the lid to make it start up. He need to end his boredom somehow, or else he would be in a hissy mood for the rest of the day, which, having just gotten relaxed with the help of a bath, didn’t sound appealing at all.

Chrome started up, and soon his fingers were dragging themselves across the keyboard, typing random words that popped in his mind in YouTube’s search bar. Levi found himself watching some kind of playthrough of a pixel game that had something to do with a gallery and a small girl, and although the story seemed mildly interesting, he wasn’t looking for something that would take hours of his time, and it seemed as if watching that playlist would.

Besides, he didn’t even know if the commentary would be good.

Going back to YouTube’s home page, he blinked. His recommendations had changed, and a spark of curiosity lit up his eyes once he read the title of one of the videos.

Séance.

He did not know the meaning of the word.

His curiosity had been piqued, something that did not happen that often, so Levi opened a new tab and typed the strange word. Wikipedia and other sites flashed on the screen, and his eyes struggled to absorb all the information poured into them. According to what he was reading, it was nothing but an attempt to communicate with spirits. Good, evil, neutral; no one really knew until they had established contact with an ethereal entity.

As he read, his eyes barely blinked. It was important for him to understand the meaning behind the ritual, why would anyone ever want to do it?

And then he understood.

Maybe people needed to ask a really important question to a deceased person. Maybe they thought that the dead were far wiser about the future than they would ever be about the present or the past.

Maybe they were as dead inside as him.

Tabs were opened and closed repeatedly every time the topic in them changed, leading him into a whole new world ruled by the occult without even noticing. Bizarre stories surrounded him, and in less than an hour he had at least ten tabs open, waiting to be read by the young male. Disturbing stories, gruesome games such as a Japanese, creepy version of hide and seek and others started to worm their way into his mind as he read them. And the sense of paranoia started to bloom slowly as he looked at some of them.

But as well as paranoia and slight fear, there was still excitement, lying underneath whatever told him that he should just close his laptop or go back to listening to music. And it banged against the walls of his core, waiting, demanding to be released by pleasing his cravings.

And the opportunity presented itself no later than a minute after that.

_How To Make Your Own Ouija Board._

For a second, he hesitated. This all seemed so decisive, so definitive, like it would actually change something. That was what his gut told him. He waited a few seconds, giving his own conscience a chance to keep him away from this madness---

\----and then he clicked on the link.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me at [rivaillewantsthed](http://rivaillewantsthed.tumblr.com/)! Comments are appreciated, and I hope you liked the first chapter. In the next one, Erwin makes his appearance.


End file.
